Do me one favor
by Incurable Romantic
Summary: Some violence and a little swearing, the story begins with a confrontation between Ranma and Akane, which has an unusual end, but that brings even more problems along with it.
1. Default Chapter

"Do me one favor" ****

"Do me one favor"

- Standard disclaimer here- you've all read it before, I don't own Ranma, nor do I particularly want to. I just enjoy being obsessed with it.

****

Chapter 1

"Ranma honey, I need to know exactly what's between you and Akane." 

"But why Ucchan? Why does it matter?" Akane, who had a knack for over-hearing Ranma at the worst times, was walking down the deserted school hallway, she had stayed late to get extra help from the swimming teacher, not that it helped, it never did. She heard Ranma and Ukyo talking inside a closed classroom and edged closer to the door, listening intently.

"Because I want to know why you are engaged to that girl, who you obviously don't have any feelings for." Akane put her ear against the door to hear Ranma reply.

"Oh come on Ucchan. I've told you this already; our parents arranged the marriage. It wasn't my decision, no one even asked if I wanted to marry Akane."

"Do you still feel that way?" There was a pause after Ukyo said that and Akane pressed her ear even harder against the closed classroom door. She was biting the inside of lip, debating whether she should leave, but she desperately wanted to hear the answer, so she stayed; only to hear Ranma answer, 

"Who could possibly want to marry that macho-chick?" Akane stifled a sob and ran, trying to get away without making any noise. Unfortunately, she didn't see the large metal trashcan that she crashed into a moment later, her vision blurred by tears.

Ranma heard the trashcan fall, crashing to the ground and inwardly swore. He should have expected this; she always overheard him whenever he bad-mouthed her. He couldn't possibly know that this time was different; that it wasn't just said to her, it wasn't said to himself, this time Ranma had said it to the girl he himself had said was cute, the one that was Ranma's oldest childhood friend, the one that could do so many of the things Akane couldn't. 

"Akane!" Ranma yelled as he barreled out of the classroom, sliding slightly on the litter that was strewn over the hallway. He caught a glimpse of her turning the corner, hands covering her eyes, running blindly. "Akane, wait!" But Akane kept on running. "Damn!" 

"Ranma honey, what's the matter?" Ukyo was looking out of the now open door. Ranma said nothing, he just sighed. 

Akane Tendo dashed down the crowded streets, filled with people doing their shopping, she bumped into a number of people, but never looked to see who it was, that's why she didn't see her sister, Kasumi. Kasumi bent down, picking up her groceries, watching her youngest sister. "Oh dear," she sighed. "I wonder what went wrong this time."

Soon after, Akane was sprawled out, weeping on her bed, her pet pig P-chan right next to her. Ranma peered in through the window, but didn't come in. He hung upside down, staring at her. She began to talk, more to herself then anyone else, but both Ranma and P-chan could hear every word.

"He wouldn't hurt me anymore. This is the last time I allow him to get to me." Then almost as though she could feel Ranma's presence, she turned to the window. 

Ranma braced himself for the attack he knew was coming, he could see the hatred in her eyes and see her fists ball up. But she never touched him, she was about to hurl him into the air, with the now so-familiar move, but instead she just turned her face back to the pillow. Ranma was so surprised to find himself not flying through the air, that he dropped, not overly gracefully into her room.

She looked up; her face a bit more composed. "I'm glad you're here," she said, in an almost normal voice. "I have come to a decision. I won't allow you to hurt me anymore, so…" her voice trailed off and when she started again, she spoke more shakily. "So I think that… that this engagement… I mean, it wasn't our idea… neither of us wanted to… and… you obviously don't… love me… so, we should… probably, break it off." She finished very quietly, trying very hard not to cry, but not succeeding, a small tear ran down her already stained face.

Ranma just stared, lost for words.

"Are you serious this time Akane?" Ranma asked, a look of wonder still plastered on his face. Akane looked into his eyes, there was an expression there that Ranma rarely saw, but maybe that was because she never let him get close enough to see it. Then she spoke, in a quiet, defeated tone,

"I know we've done this before, but I this time, I mean it. We've known each other for how long now? And we've never really gotten along. There have always been so many little signs, I just never saw them, or maybe I just didn't want to."

"What little signs?" Ranma asked, very confused, not just because of what she was saying, but with what was going on inside of him. The emotions he had so long repressed were beginning to boil up.

"Oh, the fact that we can't hold a conversation for five minutes without me clobbering, to trying to clobber you. The way you can never say anything nice to me, no matter how hard you try. And I suppose the biggest sign is the fact that you are unable to kiss me." 

Ranma was now flabbergasted; he gazed at her for several minutes before saying anything, when he did it wasn't very clever,

"Well, what should I do, if I don't marry you?" Akane just looked at him for a few moments,

"You really need to ask? There are at least three women in this town alone that are almost willing to kill to marry you. Don't ask me what you should do."

"Well, I suppose then, a better question would be what would you do?" Ranma asked. Akane's eyes flashed in such a dangerous way that Ranma backed up a bit.

"Why? Don't you think that I could find anyone to marry me?" Then she took a few deep breaths and continued, calmer. "Daddy will be disappointed I guess, but this is my life not his." There was a pause. "Still I suppose I should marry a martial artist, so that I can take over the Dojo." 

Ranma looked at her, not daring to say what he desperately wanted to, so instead he asked,

"Who?" Akane thought for a bit, then answered, in an almost off-hand way, as though talking about a dress she wanted,

"I suppose if worst comes to worst, I could always marry Kuno."

You can't marry that idiot!" Ranma was practically livid with rage. "He's a terrible fighter!" Akane smiled slightly,

"Not everyone can be as good as you are Ranma," she said quietly. Ranma shut up immediately. "No, if I wanted to marry someone even close to your skill level, that would probably be Ryoga." There was another pause; Ranma was unable to reply to this due to a large squeal, which emanated from P-chan. 

"Come to think of it," Akane continued, "Ryoga would make an excellent fiancé. I wonder if I could get him to agree to it?" Ranma grabbed the little black pig as it attempted to jump off the bed, in something of a hurry.

"He's always getting lost though," Ranma said.

"True," mused Akane, "but he's such a sweet guy and an excellent martial artist, you've said yourself that he's the only one you've ever considered to be a worthy opponent."

Ranma looked at her, holding on to P-chan, who was viciously biting his finger. If Akane had been looking into his eyes, the topic of their conversation might have changed, the pain and love that radiated in there was worse then the look Ryoga got every time he left, thinking his love was hopeless. 

"Akane… I," Ranma didn't know what to say, "if this is what you really want…"

"It is." 

"Well, then before I leave, will you do me one favor?" Ranma's voice was pleading, but Akane still didn't look up.

"I suppose that would be alright. What do you want me to do?" Ranma paused, not sure of how this would sound,

"I want a kiss." 

Akane looked up. Her mouth opened, shut again, but Ranma answered her unspoken question,

"A good-bye kiss, for all we've been through." Akane looked into his eyes, looked down again. 

"And if I don't?" She asked quietly.

"I won't leave until I get one," Ranma answered shortly. Akane bit her lip, thinking hard. What possible harm could it do?

"All right." She looked up. "Right now?" Ranma was taken aback, he hadn't thought she'd actually agree. But he answered,

"Yeah, right now."

Akane took a deep breath and leaned forward, very hesitantly. Ranma put his hands on the edge of her bed, accidentally letting go of P-chan, who ran off unnoticed. Ranma leaned in closer, it was a terribly slow process, they were inches from each other, they stopped breathing, their noses touched, ever so lightly; Akane stopped, Ranma stopped, they looked into each others eyes, just to make sure. That one moment cost them the chance. Ryoga dashed in, looking damp. Akane gasped, jerking back. Ranma promptly kicked him through the roof.

He turned back to her, his eyes asking the question he couldn't voice. Akane knew the moment had passed, for the time being. 

"I guess you'll have to stay… a bit longer," she said, whispering the last part. Ranma however, was not in the mood to drag this out.

"No. We agreed to do this now and we'll do this now." Akane didn't know what to say. Ranma strode back to her bed, pulled her off of it, put one hand on the nape of her neck, drew her forward, and… was interrupted when Shampoo burst through the wall.

"Shampoo know Ranma cheating on her." Ranma looked at her, getting frustrated. Then he had a brilliant idea and said,

"Shampoo, if you leave now, I'll date you on Saturday." Shampoo thought a moment; eyes still narrowed in hatred, looking at Akane.

"I guess is good." And she left.

Ranma turned back to Akane. "I see your point, there do seem to be a lot of obstacles between us." Akane looked sadly at him and said,

"You forget, technically there is no us anymore, not once this kiss is over." Ranma looked at her, wanting to say something, but not sure what to do, so he just put his hands on Akane's waist and pulled her to him. Akane looked at him, gave a little smile and wrapped her arms around his neck. "So let's get this over with then." Ranma nodded and leaned down, he didn't know why he was so nervous, and after all he was the one that suggested this whole thing. 

With no other problems in their way, the two drew closer and closer, but at the last moment Ranma pulled away. "I'm sorry Akane, I can't."

"Just like I said," Akane whispered to herself.

"What?" Asked Ranma. Akane brought one hand up to cover her face, she was about to cry again and said in a croaky voice,

"You can't, you can't kiss me. Do you have enough proof now? Now can you just leave me? I've already broken the promise I made to myself. I swore I won't let you hurt me again." She turned to him. "Leave." Ranma stared at her for a moment and walked out of her room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 ****

Chapter 2

And promptly bumped into Kasumi, who had been standing outside the door. She had come home only a few minutes before and had been about to knock on Akane's door, when Ranma came out. 

"Oh dear," Kasumi said gently, at the sight of Ranma's anguished face. 'There must be something more going on here then just the usual stuff,' Kasumi thought. She didn't move for awhile, trying to decide the right thing to do, finally she knocked on the door.

Akane stiffened, for a small second, she thought it was Ranma again, then she heard Kasumi's voice quietly asking, 

"Akane, is everything all right? May I come in?" Akane took a long breath, trying to steady her voice,

"Yes, come in." Kasumi entered, her eyes took in the room, Akane standing in the middle of the room, chest heaving with emotion; there was the hole in the ceiling that looked very similar to the many holes that often popped up in the Tendo household; and then that large chunk of wall missing, showing that Shampoo had been to visit.

"Oh dear," Kasumi sighed. She went over to Akane, put a hand on her shoulder and asked gently, "what happened here?" Akane sank to the floor, unable to support herself upright any longer. And told the whole story. 

She explained what she had overheard in the classroom. She told about how she run into the trashcan and then ran blindly outside, and down the street. She explained how she had come home and tried breaking some blocks, only to find that her concentration wasn't up to the job and she only ended up hurting herself. Then she repeated the conversation with Ranma, glossing over a few bits, emphasizing others, finally she ended with Ranma's inability to kiss her and her ordering him out of her room. 

"Oh dear," Kasumi sighed in several places, after Akane had finished she asked, "so, what are you going to do now?" Akane looked at her, brow furrowed and answered,

"I don't know. It's so confusing, I'm getting so many different signals. First he tells Ukyo that he doesn't want to marry me, then when I offer him the chance not to marry me, he says he won't leave until I give him a kiss. But he is… he can't kiss me!" Akane finished in a rush, burying her face in her hands and bursting out in fresh tears. "I don't know what to do! Help me Kasumi!" Akane was getting hysterical. 

"Well," began Kasumi, "the first thing is for you to decide whether or not you want to end the engagement." Akane slowly raised her head and looked at Kasumi in wonder.

In the Dojo, Ranma was going through an intricate series of complicated maneuvers, attempting to relieve some of his frustration. "Why, why?" He said over and over again. "Why do I screw everything up? Why can't I just tell her, show her… how much… how much she means to me? I don't want to end our engagement, do I?" Ranma sat down cross-legged, barely even out of breath. "Damn it, if I can't even decide what I want, how can I hope to understand what she wants?" He got up again and began to pace around. "She can't want to end this engagement really, can she? Maybe it would be best, I never mean to hurt her, but I always do. Maybe I should take a page out of Ryoga's book and go training for awhile, perhaps when I come back things will make more sense." He stopped walking. "If I'm ever allowed to come back."

Ranma had made up his mind, it wasn't fair to either of them to stay, so he went back to the room he shared with his pop and began to pack. He got out the backpack he always used on training trips and began to put in the basics. When emptying a bottom drawer however, he came across a number of pictures he had hid there. There were about half a dozen of them altogether, all of them of him and Akane. 

There was a picture of the two of them when they were at the martial arts skating competition. Akane had looked so beautiful that day, in that cute little outfit, the memory of those few moments when she had squeezed his hand and begged him not to push himself still made his heart skip a beat. Then Ryoga managed to ruin the whole thing as usual. There was a nice one from the production of Romeo and Juliet they had been in together, another time he had been unable to kiss her. Even now the memory of that evening still brought a barrage of emotions. There were a number of others, but the one he really wanted to see was the very last picture in the small pile, the one that no one knew he had. It was the picture had that crazy voodoo guy had taken of them right after Ranma's first cat-fu attack had ended, when he was sitting on Akane's lap, when he had kissed her, without his knowledge. Ranma sighed,

"Too bad that the only times I can kiss her is when I don't know I'm doing it." Ranma held the photographs tightly in his hands and then put them in the bag as well. 

Ranma was walking out the door, pack on his back when Kasumi came out. "Ranma!" Kasumi exclaimed. "You aren't leaving without saying good-bye are you?" Ranma turned to her and said,

"I left some notes on the table, one for my pop, one for you, and one for Akane. I thought they would explain the matter."

"Maybe they would, but that wouldn't make the pain any less for Akane," Kasumi said, as gently as possible. Ranma was suddenly indignant,

"Don't you see Kasumi? That's the only reason I'm leaving. I don't want to hurt her anymore. Not until I can figure this out at any rate. I'm leaving, but I'll come back and with any luck, I'll have figured out what's wrong with me. I will have figured out what it is that makes me hurt the one person that I…" Ranma trailed off.

"Oh dear. If you love her, why don't you just tell her?" 

"Who said I loved her?" Ranma said with a sneer. He almost immediately regretted his words when he heard,

"Ranma you jerk!" And felt the large mallet come down painfully on his head. "Just how many ways can you find to torment me?" Yelled a very angry Akane, her battle aura flaring.

"I'm sorry Akane," Ranma said, in a small, defeated tone. "I wish that I could have left without hurting you again, but I seem to be doomed to be idiot." Ranma turned to her, stood up, and continued, "I said I wouldn't leave until I got a kiss from you, but seeing as how I seem unable to do even that, I should probably leave without one." Akane was astonished. He looked into her eyes for a few minutes, trying desperately to memorize her face, knowing that he probably wouldn't see it for a long time, then he turned to go, but Akane grabbed his sleeve and said,

You know what Ranma?" Ranma turned to her again, but said nothing however, his eyes showed the confusion that he didn't verbalize. "I am tired of this game." Then Akane grabbed the collar of his Chinese shirt with both hands and pressed her lips against his.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 ****

Chapter 3

Ranma felt a very odd sensation, he felt as if he were completely losing control of his body, and considering he had trained for the last ten years of his life to attain perfect control of his body, this was no small matter. But it didn't stop with just his body, his mind seemed to be frozen too, no not frozen, it was in actuality so relaxed that it felt frozen. This just felt so right somehow. Exactly how long they stood like that, neither of them could quite tell, but to both of them, it didn't feel like long enough when they suddenly heard a number of voices shouting at about the same time.

"You will pay for the insult you have placed upon the Beauteous and formerly pure Akane, Saotome!" Roared a voice that belonged, unmistakably to the idiot Kuno.

"Ranma!! Prepare to die!!" There was no mistaking that voice either, Ryoga. There were others as well, too many others. Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi. 

Ranma hurriedly pulled out of the kiss and turned to face the two martial artists now coming at him, fury etched in their faces. The fight was fast and furious, normally neither of those two were much of a match for him, but with the combination of there being two of them and the fact that his head was still spinning slightly from the kiss, he was not at his usual peak ability. The fight took all of his concentration.

Akane, who having quickly gotten over the shock of both what she had just done and the abrupt end of it, struck her fight pose. This was very necessary, considering that she was now facing three seriously jealous and dangerous rivals. 

Kodachi spun her black ribbon around and around, whipping Akane in the face and giving her a long cut down one cheek. Akane bit her lip to keep from crying out, but she soon did anyway as Shampoo's furious attack hit her. Akane managed not to fall, but it was a very close thing. She was intensely dizzy, which was most likely the reason that she was unable to dodge fast enough the large spatula that swung towards her head. 

Ranma heard the sound of metal hitting flesh, and then he heard the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"Akane!" He yelled, tossing both his opponents into the air and out of sight with one very powerful uppercut. He moved so quickly to the spot where Akane lay, motionless, so fast that not one of the girls had seen him coming. Ranma carefully turned Akane over; she had been facedown in the dirt and looked her over to see what was wrong. A small groan escaped her lips, bleeding from where she had bit them. "Oh Akane," he whispered, "this is all my fault." Ranma glared up at the three girls, their battle auras still showing. "You have exactly thirty seconds to get out of my sight, or I will remove you myself." There was a cold edge in his voice that none of the girls had ever heard there before; unconsciously, they all shivered at once.

They left quickly; not wanting to deal with the anger that was so apparent in Ranma's voice. Ranma looked down at Akane again and then glanced up, looking about wildly for Kasumi. Where could she be? She had been right there? Kasumi had run into the house as soon as the fights had started, but she had seen her sister fall and had called Dr. Tofu. As soon as she was off the phone, Kasumi rushed outside. She knelt down beside Ranma, saying,

"I've just telephoned Dr. Tofu. He said he would be here in just a few minutes." Ranma looked up at her and nodded. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out, his voice was caught in his throat. He sat for several more minutes, holding Akane's hand, as he dared not move her in case of serious head injury, finally he was able to speak,

"You might want to leave before Dr. Tofu gets here." Ranma said in an uncharacteristically tremulous voice. Kasumi nodded, she understood having noticed several times before the, rather unusual way Dr. Tofu acted when she was around. Then she stood up and went back into the house.

Dr. Tofu soon arrived; he pressed several pressure points, and then a number of others. He frowned, but it wasn't a deep frown, he turned to Ranma and asked,

"What happened?" Ranma took a deep breath and answered,

"There was a fight," there was a nasty pause, "she lost." Dr. Tofu nodded, his assumption confirmed and assured Ranma,

"There is no permanent damage, but she does have a nasty cut on her cheek, it almost looks as if whatever cut her had poison on it."

"That is a distinct possibility." Muttered Ranma, very quietly, but Dr. Tofu caught it anyway.

"Ah, well anyway, I'll just clean that up now." He wiped some funny-smelling liquid on Akane's cut and continued, "She will have a lump on the back of her head and a fairly large headache when she wakes up, but lucky no concussion." Ranma breathed a sigh of relief and said,

"Thank you doctor. Would it be alright if I took her upstairs?" 

"That would be fine." Dr. Tofu paused, then asked, "Is Kasumi still at home?" Ranma gave a weak smile.

"Yeah," he replied, "she's inside, probably has tea ready, I'd go on in if I were you." Dr. Tofu thanked him and headed inside at a fast pace. 

Ranma scoped Akane up, and brought her upstairs. He laid her down carefully on her bed and then stood up, a look of conflict on his face. He stared at Akane's somewhat bruised and bloody face. He gently laid a finger on her lips and traced their shape, then he moved his finger over to the already quickly healing cut on her cheek and traced that too. Ranma breathed a huge shuddering sigh and turned away, knowing that his earlier decision had been the right one.

"Good-bye Akane. I can't stay here; all I ever manage to bring you is pain, in one way or another. I will not risk the chance of you getting injured because of me again." 

Ranma leapt out the window, landing, perfectly balanced on the ground. He picked up his pack, which he had dropped at some point between the kiss and the fight and put it back on. He sent one last longing look back to the window he had just leaped out of, turned and walked off.

*I am planning on another chapter, but seeing as how I have been getting way too much homework lately, I can't say when it will be. 


	4. 

Chapter 4 ****

Chapter 4

"Ranma?" Akane looked into the eyes of the guy she was in love with.

"Yes Akane?" Ranma took her hands in his warm, strong ones and leaned closer to her; she could feel the warmth of his breath as she said quietly,

"Ranma, I love you." There wasn't even a change in his breathing as Ranma replied,

"I know" Akane's eyes widen slightly, but her voice was very calm when she asked, almost without realizing she was doing it,

"You do?" Ranma smiled, smiled in that way that made this space somewhere in the area of Akane's stomach pulse with a strange feeling, then he said,

"Yes, and I love you too, Akane." Akane's face brightened even more and slowly, the two leaned towards each other, their lips almost touching, then she heard,

"Akane." She paused, the vision of Ranma's expectant countenance fading just the smallest bit, and then much more when again she heard,

"Akane." It was in a very different voice from Ranma's. It was a girl's voice, something wasn't right here, something defiantly wasn't right. Akane Tendo stirred in her sleep; her dreams of Ranma slowly disappearing as her conscious mind reasserted itself. Kasumi sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes full of relief that her youngest sister was finally waking up. 

Akane blinked, opening her eyes slowly, they gained some focus and looked at Kasumi. Akane's expression was puzzled. 'Kasumi?' she thought to herself. 'Where's Ranma? Why is Kasumi here?' Akane tried to remember what had happened why, as she suddenly realized where she was, she was laying in her room. Wasn't she just…

"Kasumi, where's Ranma?" Akane's voice was slightly panicked. She remembered bits of the fight now. Had someone hurt Ranma? If they had they were going to pay. She would make them pay. But no, no one can touch Ranma. He's too good, whereas she, on the other hand… "Oh." And Akane remembered.

Kasumi sighed, looking at her sister's face, knowing that this conversation was going to take some time. Akane looked at her again, when she spoke, her voice was quite surprisingly calm, at least for the moment,

"Which one knocked me out?" 

"It was Ukyo, she um… got you with that big spatula," Kasumi replied, trying to make it sound like no big deal. Akane was still for a moment, digesting this piece of information, then unable to contain herself she asked,

"And what about Ranma?" Kasumi looked away, not wanting to answer this question, knowing what would happen if she did. "Kasumi you have to tell me." There was an edge in Akane's voice, but there was more then that, she was sounding almost anxious.

"Oh my." 

* * * * * * * *

"Ranma you jerk!" The expletive rang out with a resonant sound; it was the same sentence Akane had been shouting over and over again for the last fifteen minutes. After Kasumi had told her where Ranma had gone, Akane had been shocked into silence, for a few minutes at least. She was now smashing cinder blocks with her hands. Still frustrated and all out of cinder blocks, she stood in front of a twisted tree, wrapped around with a covering. She kicked the tree so hard it shock, Akane caught her breath for a second, and almost immediately cursed herself,

"Fool! Did you really expect him to be in the tree?" She hissed to herself, but she knew the answer, no. She hadn't expected it, but she had been hoping, with a part of herself that she never admitted was there, if she could help it, she had been hoping. She had somehow come to think of this tree as Ranma's tree, after the number of times he had fallen out of it. In fact, as she looked around her, everything she saw reminded her strongly and painfully of him.

* * * * * * * *

A long ways away, Ranma wasn't any happier. He had just left the one place in the world where he had ever felt, content. No, he admitted with a sigh, not just content, happy. He had left behind the one person who he had ever thought of as more then 'just a friend'. 

"But it's not like I had any choice," he snarled. "If I had stayed, if I had told her… she wouldn't have lasted long." He knew that the sentence didn't make much sense, but neither did the emotions flooding his mind. If he hadn't left his other 'fiancées' would never have left her alone. Sure Akane was more or less able to protect herself against one, but so many at a time? And if that's what had happened after a kiss… well, Ranma didn't want to think about what might have happened if he had done something like, telling her his real feelings, the ones he had never before been able to express out loud, even to himself. Or what if they got married, he could just see the battle now, Akane in a wedding dress, fighting with three seriously pissed off girls. 

Ranma almost smiled at the mental picture this conjured up, but he didn't. There were so many things in the way of the two of them. Even forgetting for the time being the other love interests, there was always the curse. Ranma shuddered, he always hated thinking about his curse, but he knew that the curse was another aspect of his life that would make living normally virtually an impossibility. Yet even with all of these reasons for staying away, leaving Akane to find someone who wouldn't make such a mess of her life, there was, in the other half of the scale a reason so powerful to go back, that he stopped and halfway turned back. He loved Akane, he knew that now. Why hadn't he ever been able to… well, it was too late now. But just the thought of her face, the memory of her lips pressed against his, the feeling of loss that was slowly creating a hole inside of him made him almost sick with grief, regret, and self-hatred.

Ranma set up camp in a forest, miles away from Nerima. He had come to train, so he did. Training was the only thing that could keep him from succumbing to the despair that filled his heart. He found this out violently one morning; Ranma had woken up, but instead of immediately heading out to start his training, he had sat for a moment, thinking. He quickly regretted this as images of Akane, memories, past conversations, all the reminders of all the times he had been so close and botched it, filled his mind. And with them came physical pain; curled up in a tight ball in his tent, Ranma was unable to move for several minutes as grief and regret pounded at him from all sides. It stopped almost as abruptly as it had started and Ranma quickly left the tent and spent the rest of the day training. When he returned, past dark, he was so tired out he was asleep almost as soon as he had lain down; and the dreams, which usually haunted his mind at night, left him alone. 

So Ranma quickly fell into a pattern, he would get up and work himself into exhaustion, and then do the same the next day. And if any unpleasant memories of the life he had left behind came to him, he simply pushed it out of his mind. He worked hard, each day pushing himself more then the last, wanting to believe that if he worked hard enough, he would be able to rid himself of the empty feeling inside. It was surprising to him how easy it was to leave everything you cared about behind, that is if you didn't pay much attention to the pain slowly gnawing a hole inside your soul.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Akane sat in class; she too had tried to block the horrid thoughts that entered her mind at the smallest opportunity. She worked out even more than she had before; not surprising really, and she put a lot more effort into her studies. She had thought, had hoped that the pain would diminish after time; it was certainly painful to recall the first few days when everyone had been talking about Ranma's disappearance, about what had happened. Lucky there were only a few people tactless enough to actually ask her about it. There had been a few, but it was really amazing, the effect of a mangled body, laying in the dirt after Akane had finished with the noisy person, had on the rest of the school's population. 

Still after all these weeks… 'no' Akane told herself sternly, 'I will not think about it. This is not the time to think about him.' But she found she couldn't help it and she slowly sank into a stupor as the blackboard in front of her went out of focus and images of that pig-tailed martial artist, her pig-tailed martial artist danced inside her head. She was snapped out of her self-induced coma when Ukyo poked her in the shoulder.

"What?" Snapped Akane, but she noticed that the rest of the class had already left. Ukyo was about to reply with a biting remark, when she saw the thinly veiled pain underneath the annoyance in Akane's eyes.

"You miss him too," Ukyo said quietly. Akane looked at her, she wanted to say something mean; this was the person who had started the whole thing, she was the one who had delivered the attack that had made up Ranma's mind after all, but she didn't. Then she suddenly had the urge to say something to tell her about the pain inside; she knew that Ukyo hurt too, but she didn't. She didn't say anything, and Ukyo understood all the same.

After that moment of understanding, the two entered into a careful friendship. They were more alike then either had wanted to admit before. Akane now walked with Ukyo to and from school and after school the two usually sat together in Ukyo's okonomiyaki restaurant. They talked about so many things, pretty much everything but Ranma. One day Ukyo tentatively asked Akane a question,

"Do you love him?" Akane looked up and Ukyo braced herself just in case of an attack, Akane just looked down again and Ukyo relaxed. Akane didn't speak for awhile and Ukyo was about to start on another topic when she said,

"Yes." 

The definite tone of voice Ukyo heard gave her a very small shock. She was slightly taken aback,

"How long have you known?"

"In my heart," she paused for a moment and let out a small sigh, "I've known since I met him. But I didn't let myself admit it out-loud." Ukyo looked at the floor for a minute and asked another question that had been weighing on her chest for some time now,

"Why, why didn't you ever tell him?" The question was said quietly and hesitantly. Akane smiled slightly and gave a very small laugh. "What's funny?" Ukyo asked immediately, looking up.

"Well," began Akane, "you remember what happened after just kissing him don't you?" It really wasn't a question exactly, Ukyo looked back down at the floor in shame, why had she reacted so violently, was she that insecure about herself? 

Her musings were interrupted as Akane began to speak again, "I shudder to imagine everyone's reaction if I had said… that." Ukyo looked at Akane, seeing her in a different light, she realized for the first time that Akane was more then a horrible cook, a macho un-cute tomboy, as Ranma so often put it. 

"Akane," she said. "This is enough, Ranma can't be this selfish, let's go find him." She paused, then added, with a wretch in her heart, "together." Akane stared at her, bewildered, then a smile broke over her face and she nodded in agreement.

"All right."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 ****

Chapter 5

Now that Akane had something to focus on, the days following her and Ukyo's decision passed with much less pain then the previous ones had. It had been a month since Ranma had left and for the first time Akane felt as if she had a purpose, amazing how much of a difference a plan of action can make. But the plan is only the plan and soon Akane realized that she had no idea where to start looking for Ranma. 

Ukyo had noticed this small problem as well of course and their leaving was delayed for several days as they had endless conversations that all went about the same way.

"He might have gone to China," Akane would say.

"If he could have, but Ran-chan doesn't have the money to get there," Ukyo would reply. Then Akane would sit and think for awhile and usually end up saying,

"He could have swam there." But she never sounded really convinced and Ukyo didn't really think it all that possible either. "So he's probably somewhere in Japan." Akane would continue.

"Yeah, that would be my guess," Ukyo would add. Then they would lapse into silence for awhile, each thinking similar thoughts 'Ranma, where are you?' They would then throw out suggestions for another half an hour or so, but would eventually give up, because they really had no idea where Ranma could be, or even where to start looking.

After about a week of this Akane was getting depressed. Her family had been trying their best to cheer her up ever since Ranma had left, but their best helped very little, especially in Soun's case. Soun would burst into tears at the slightest provocation and would even rampage around the house once and awhile with his eerie impression of a snake. Nabiki at first had tried to ignore the anguish seen on her little sister's face on a daily basis, but soon found it impossible.

This is why she was to be found in her room one night pondering over certain possibilities. She sat in front of her desk, staring at the things carefully spread out on it. There were a number of interesting things on her desk; the most interesting of which was a map. 

"Why the hell do I have to be so soft-hearted?" Nabiki mumbled to herself, still staring at the map. "Well, it is still a business deal, I mean ever since Ranma's left, my profits have gone down quite a bit. Without Kuno's obsessive purchasing of the female Ranma's pictures…" Nabiki trailed off. "Still to just give it to her for free." Nabiki shuddered the capitalist in her trying to change her mind that had been made up, even if she wasn't ready to admit that quite yet. "She's my sister damn it!" Nabiki sat for a few more minutes, then stood up, grabbed the map, and walked out of her room.

Meanwhile Akane sat on her bed, hugging her knees. She wasn't crying, but she was very close to it. She felt cold all over, there was a piece of her missing and she didn't know where it was. She wanted to get it back, but… Akane's less then pleasant musings were interrupted by a snort outside her door. 

"Nabiki?" Akane questioned. Nabiki walked in smiling smugly.

"Yes it's me." Akane felt something begin to boil inside her, in the midst of her obvious unhappiness, here was her own sister smiling!

"Nabiki tell me what you want or get out. I'm in no mood to be mocked tonight." The statement wasn't completely unfounded; the night Ranma had left, Nabiki had teased her without mercy.

"So what are you going to do now huh?" She had asked with a malicious undercurrent in her voice. "Without a fiancé, you might have to just give in and date Kuno or something." It wasn't really a good insult, for Nabiki it was terrible; it wasn't at all up to her usual standards, but part of it can be put down as jealousy. Strange as she found it, Nabiki was jealous that Akane attracted all the guys, and though she rarely even allowed herself to think it, she did have a thing for that idiot Kuno.

Nabiki's grin was forcibly removed from her expression as she walked over to her sister and sat down on the bed. She held the map out to her.

"Here," she said, "I had some of my 'sources' do a little investigating and they heard some stories of a teenager with a pigtail doing impossible martial arts stunts in this remote area outside this tiny town. I thought you might be interested to hear about it."

Nabiki didn't look at her sister, if she had, she would have seen the look of utter amazement that Akane was giving her. For Nabiki to tell her this, without asking for 1000 yen first, it just wasn't something that happened. Akane didn't know exactly what to say, so the words just kind of, tumbled out,

"Uh, thanks Nabiki, I um… well," she suddenly took a good look at the piece of paper that Nabiki was holding out to her. Upon closer examination she gasped and yanked the page out of her hand. "This is, this is…where did you…it's a…"

"A map," Nabiki said coolly. "I told you I had my sources find out where he is. Now go get him back, with him gone, my profit margins are decreasing at an alarming rate. Besides, the quiet is getting rather boring." Nabiki tried to keep her voice normal, but wasn't completely successful. She kept her head carefully turned away from Akane, so that she didn't have to see the emotions playing over her face. 

"Thank you Nabiki," Akane's voice was unsteady. "Finally I know where to start, I have to go tell Ukyo!" She jumped up and was gone.

"Wait!" Yelled Nabiki, but Akane was gone. "You could have just used the phone." She just smiled slightly and rolled her eyes. "Love."

* * * * * * * * *

Less then an hour later, we meet our favorite tomboy running alongside our favorite okonomiyaki chef, heavy packs on both of their backs. They were both running in complete silence, for each had their own thoughts they had to deal with. In Akane's head flashed memories of all the times she had attacked Ranma, for the stupidest reasons. 'Oh I hope he doesn't hate me,' she thought. 'But after all the things I've done to him I wouldn't blame him if he did.' Luckily though, more cheerful ones soon replaced these thoughts. The one that kept replaying over and over inside her head was of course that pivotal moment before Ranma had left; that kiss; the one moment that Akane hadn't been worried about the consequences.

The subject of Ukyo's thoughts were basically on the same wavelength as Akane's, except that Ukyo's memory of that moment hadn't been quite as cheering. All she could remember about that day was having been coming over for some reason and having seen the two of them… as she looked over at Akane, she sighed, how much easier it would be if she didn't like Ranma. She was beginning to cherish Akane's friendship, but she still loved Ranma. She loved Ranma, not only because her father had told her to, but because she just did. It was impossible to explain, she didn't necessary want to be in love with Ranma; of all the people she could choose, she had to pick Ranma, the one guy who would never see her in that way. To him she was just a friend. A friend, sometimes that word brought with it a taste of blood. A friend, could she possibly ever care for Ranma as only a friend? She loved him so much, that was the reason that when she saw the two of them… they were kissing. Not only were they kissing, but they looked so happy doing it. Maybe if they hadn't looked as if they had just been dropped into a huge pit of money, given half of Japan, and then been informed that the planet was being re-named in honor of them… maybe things would have turned out different. But something inside of her just… snapped. A little green-eyed creature that was such a part of her suddenly grew and filled her entire body, until all she could see was that Ranma was kissing another girl. This had seemed like the end of the world, there was nothing else she could do the monster whispered to her, she had to attack. So she did. 

Ukyo heaved a sigh. Why did everything she do work out wrong? She always started with such good intentions, so why…? Her musing was interrupted when Akane whispered,

"Did you hear that?" Ukyo turned to face her.

"No, what was it?" Akane didn't answer for a minute, she simply listened.

"Guess it was just my imagination." But it hadn't been her imagination at all. It had been Shampoo.

Shampoo had been spying on Akane ever since Ranma had left. She figured that Akane would find a way to him eventually, and when she did, Shampoo was going to be ready. The old crone hopped alongside her granddaughter. She didn't speak, but her mind was unceasingly active.

The girls were getting close to the town that was indicated on the map; they both knew it. They continued to get quieter and quieter and Ukyo began to wonder, not for the first time, why she had come along. She knew that it would only hurt her more, simply looking over at Akane and seeing the anticipation that was in her eyes induced a feeling inside her. It felt like a chill; a chill that would sweep though her entire body, only for a second, and then it would be gone. Why had she come along? She knew the answer, somewhere deep inside, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. She had come to get closure. He loved Akane, she knew that now, and she knew, only too well, that Akane loved him back. She knew that she was completely out of the picture, but she had to be sure, completely sure and hopefully, seeing them together… would give her that. Then, maybe she could finally get over him, finally realize how hopeless her love was and begin the painstaking process of getting over him.

They were close; they entered the town and began to make enquiries of the people there. Had anyone seen a martial artist, he had a pigtail. No? No? No? No one would tell them anything, in a couple of instances, doors were actually slammed in their faces. Akane and Ukyo were perplexed, what was going on? An ancient old lady came out from the shadows.

"They are afraid," she whispered. "They think he is a demon." 

"What?" Asked Akane and Ukyo together.

"They have seen him perform moves that no human should be able to do, they have seen him do inhuman stunts and they have heard him, at night, when he cries out."

"He cries out?" Akane's voice was full of fear and concern. "Why?" The old lady looked at her with a critical eye and said,

"You aren't Akane are you?" Akane gasped and took a half step backwards; Ukyo stepped close to the old lady,

"How did you know that?" Her voice was low, but with a definite hint of steel in it. The old lady looked at Ukyo, then turned to Akane, and took her hand.

"In his sleep, he calls out for a girl, always the same one. He calls out for Akane." Akane began to weep silently. The old lady looked at her kindly. "Come my dear, I will take you to him, you should not keep your love waiting." It was all Ukyo could do not to start crying too.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 ****

Chapter 6

The three women began to walk; Ukyo was silently amazed at the speed that the old lady was capable of. They had gone about a quarter of a mile when they began to hear sounds coming from the forest around them; they sounded like echoes, but neither Akane nor Ukyo were completely sure. The old lady stopped.

"What's up?" Whispered Ukyo. "Are we there yet?" The old lady didn't reply for a minute, she looked at Ukyo, scrutinizing her face, Ukyo backed up a little, she could tell that her face was red, although she didn't know why. The old lady gently laid a hand upon Akane's arm and with her other… pointed to a clearing in the trees. Akane gulped, loudly enough for Ukyo, who was standing a good ten feet away, to hear her. 

"In there?" This was said so quietly that Ukyo wasn't even sure if Akane had really said it. The old lady just nodded, once, twice, and pointed again, giving Akane a very small push. 

Akane took a step forward, stopped, she turned around, and the old lady nodded again, pointed. Akane continued to walk and Ukyo then began to follow, but the old lady held out a hand. 

"What?" Hissed Ukyo. The old lady sadly looked at Ukyo; she sighed and said, quietly,

"Why do you wish to see what you know will only cause you more pain?" Ukyo could feel the tears coming, damn it, she **never **cried, and here she was… on the verge… again.

"I have to see. I have to see it in his face, that he loves her, that he… cares more for her then he cares… for me." The old lady simply nodded, once, twice, and stepped aside. Ukyo stepped forward and followed after Akane, knowing that she would always… follow Akane, she was always after Akane.

Akane continued to take step after step, she could feel her heart beating madly in her chest. Her mind, which she thought would be racing, was strangely peaceful; in it, there was room for only one thought, each step she took, was a step closer to the guy she loved. She was coming to him and soon she would see him, soon she would be with him. She didn't hear the sounds that so disturbed Ukyo, because all she could hear was the pounding of her heart. But Ukyo could hear the sounds. 

She shuddered again and again, they were familiar somehow. Horrible sounds, trees crashing to the ground, the sound of stone breaking, but that didn't bother her, it was the sound of agony that made her shudder. That's were she knew that sound, it was the same sound she had made while training at the edge of the ocean, the sound of the heart being slowly destroyed. A sound of suffering. 'Oh Ran-chan, if you felt this strongly about Akane… why couldn't you ever say so?' Ukyo was stunned and terrified and miserable. She knew now, she should have listened to the old lady, what was the point of coming, to rip out what little was left of her heart. She almost turned back, but she was curious, she wanted to see Ranma, and after all, what could be worse then hearing this?

There was something worse; there is always something worse. Akane began breathing fast as she entered a clearing, but not a natural clearing. The trees had all been destroyed; rock fragments were everywhere, and in the middle of this ring of destruction stood…Ranma. He was facing away from her, on his knees, shaking madly, and now Akane could hear the sounds. The noises coming from Ranma, the inhuman, unreal sounds. She thought her heart would shatter just listening to it. She could stand it no longer, she ran, she ran to Ranma, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, trying desperately to calm him, to stop those sounds. She succeeded, Ranma stopped, he tensed up, and then relaxed in her arms. 

"A…Akane?" Ranma's voice was hoarse. Akane gave a small sob and hugged him even tighter.

"Yes Ranma, it's me." 

"What are you doing here?" Ranma sounded as if he thought this was all a dream, that in a few minutes, he was just going to wake up and she would be gone.

"I came to find you, I…I missed you. I was worried about you." Ranma was coming back now, after six weeks of agonizing loneliness, after the realization that without Akane, his life wasn't really worth living, Ranma was coming back, too bad.

"Stupid tomboy, I can take care of myself, you don't need to baby me." However, Akane wasn't fooled, she knew now that they were only words, she knew because Ranma was still in her arms and she could feel his body relaxing against hers. She knew that he loved her, it didn't matter what he said.

Ranma was extremely surprised to find that he was still in this hemisphere, after what he had said, as soon as the words had come out of his mouth, he had wanted to stuff them back in, he was always doing that. So much of the pain he had gone through these last weeks had been caused by the memories of how horrid he had been to Akane, how he had never told her that he loved her. So Ranma was amazed that Akane was still holding him, but suddenly he didn't want to be the one being held… he wanted to hold her. 

Ranma turned, he faced Akane and gasped, had he really forgotten how beautiful she was? He looked into those eyes, the eyes that had haunted his dreams for so long and he slowly drew Akane into an embrace. He held her to him; Akane wrapped her arms around his neck, and put her head upon his chest. Neither of them, sitting there together, happier then they had ever been before, noticed Ukyo walking off. She had seen what she needed to see; she had made her decision. She was going to leave Nerima and set up shop in another city, she did, but she returned often for visits. They didn't see the two Amazons sitting in a tree either. A look of horrid jealousy was on one of the Amazons face, and on the other… acceptance. Shampoo was about to hurl herself at the girl sitting in the lap of her airen, but Cologne held her back. 

"What? Shampoo must kill violent girl, violent girl no can be with airen, is Shampoo who should be in Ranma lap now!"

"No. You will never have Ranma."

"What?" The shock that this reply caused Shampoo was very evident in her tone. 

"Ranma loves Akane, he will never marry you now, even if you were to kill Akane… especially if you were to kill her." 

"But…" 

"No." And the Amazons left, they were soon back in China, Shampoo didn't return to Japan until many years later.

How long they sat like that they didn't know, they simply sat in each others presence, feeling the holes that had been in their hearts for the last six weeks slowly close. Eventually Akane stirred and Ranma opened his eyes and looked at her.

"We should get going, it will be dark soon." The tone of her voice told Ranma that she didn't want to move anymore then he did.

"You're right. I'll just pack my stuff and we can start heading back." So he went and packed up his tent, and the few other things he had.

He walked back up to Akane, who had been waiting during the few minutes it had taken. He went right up to her and kissed her, a kiss much more enjoyed then their first one had been, because now they knew, they both knew exactly how they felt. The two of them walked back to Nerima, sometimes they talked, but more often they were silent. It took almost a week, but when they finally stood in front of the Tendo home, Ranma took Akane's hand and looked at her.

"So, what now? Do things just…go back to normal?" Akane smiled and Ranma could feel something inside of him melt.

"Ranma, with you… nothing is ever normal and things will never be the same again." Ranma leaned in a few inches and kissed her forehead, lightly.

"Good," he said, and then he moved down to her lips.

****

The End

*Hope you liked it. If you didn't, well… just remember that it's my first fanfic and that with any luck, my next one will be better. Thanks for your patience.


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